<p>I'm applying to james madison university as my top choice, and the essay topic is simply my "personal statement". 500 words. I am so unique and crazy but I'm afraid my personality won't show in my essay. Any ideas? I REALLY need to stand out since my GPA and SAT scores are barely good enough to get me in so i want to wow them.</p>
<p>p.s. my sister said a friend of hers got into william and mary because he sent in his essay on a paper airplane. would doing something like this, or just something completely different in general be too..cheesy?</p>
<p>You are sort of in the same situation as me. Im taking a big risk with my essay, and if you are in the middle (or bottom) of the applicant pool in terms of marks, you wont get in with a "cheesy" essay. Take a risk.</p>
<p>I'm a mom. I read Harry Bauld's book about writing essays for colleges. I asked my daughter to read it, and she refused. She's an EXCELLENT writer. She wrote 5 essays, all of which were fine, all of which were pedestrian, and I told her so. ANy of them could have been used as her personal statement.</p>
<p>This past weekend, she read thru the book on Friday night and Saturday. Saying that she refused to write a 6th essay.</p>
<p>Then she went to her keyboard and wrote a superb 1st draft of an essay. Totally different than her prior essays, and much truer to who she is.</p>
<p>So, if you want to get a good idea about various types of essays, and how they are viewed by admission officers, read the book.</p>